After picking a difficulty level ranging from easy to insane, you’re thrown straight into the action. To the left of the screen is your base, and you can monitor its health via a bar at the top left of the screen. On the bottom left are three ‘train units’, each costing a different number of gold coins when used, but also attacking with different styles and stats. Your opponent begins with exactly the same as you, so your job is to strategically outsmart them in how you time your release of each unit. If they get too close, they can begin attacking your base, but if you launch the most powerful unit straight away, you run the risk of being left coinless. Ultimately though, your goal is to make it across the screen to your enemy’s base, lowering its health until they’re defeated.
The game has more depth than simply placing three characters however. Your units’ attack and defence can be upgraded, a new unit unlocked, and protective weapons attached to your base. All of this costs valuable gold coins, so in order to purchase new items you need to first attack your opponent’s forces. Not only will this reward you with money to spend, but also experience points, marked out on a metre below your health. After this is around one quarter full, you’ll have the ability to administer a huge blow to your enemies, initially in the form of a meteorite shower. Yet let it fill up further and you can evolve through the ages into Romans, then Egyptians and so on, until you reach the final level of futuristic warfare. If your opponent hasn’t gained enough experience points to do so, you may be sending more powerful aliens out against their regular soldiers, giving you a much-needed advantage.[sc name=”quote” text=”Although is historical correctness may be subject to questioning, learning about the ages has never been more fun.”]
With four different difficulties, Age of War 2 perfectly balances the game between those who want a quick, simple round, and others who are looking for a more intensely fought battle. Easy won’t challenge you much at all, and even in moments when you’re left with very little health and money, there will generally be a chance to come back and win the game. Intense is the opposite however, and pits you against a frustratingly difficult opponent. Coupled with the humour and charm behind its age-spanning premise and cartoon drawings, this makes Age of War 2 available for people of all ages and gaming experience. There are often times when strategy games play out for too long as well. Of course you can pause and return later, but many people want to complete a level in one sitting: Age of War 2 allows you to do this; it’s game can last a mere ten minutes depending on the difficulty, making it great to play both at home and on the go.
There will undoubtedly be more game modes on the way soon for Age of War 2, but the main gameplay alone is enjoyable enough as a standalone app. As a strategy game there are different tactics to enforce, the characters, backgrounds, and bases continually change, and the several difficulties allow you to challenge yourself. Although is historical correctness may be subject to questioning, learning about the ages has never been more fun.
